Castle Acre Parish Council

The Droves Solar – sign up to attend hearings by 1st Sept 2026!

Map produced by a resident.

CAPC Winter 2025 Nar Valley News Article

Thanks to all who continue to engage with the consultation / planning process as it progresses for the two local proposed solar farms, The Droves and High Grove.

Castle Acre Parish Council urges residents to continue to be aware of these and the impact they will potentially have on our communities.

The Droves site alone covers over 2,000 + acres of productive farmland north of Swaffham, west of the A1065, (High Grove, in total, being considerably larger also to the west and to the east of the A1065). The Droves scheme includes approx. 25 acres allocated for a lithium battery storage site,  20 acres for high-voltage National Grid and solar compounds (up to 15 metres high),  new 400kV pylons all to the west of the A1065, south and west of Bartholomew’s Hills / Wood. Even after the Droves Solar farm is dismantled, the National Grid substation, about 10 acres in size, will remain permanently, much like the one now dominating the landscape at Necton.

We believe the visual and environmental impact will be immense: including thousands of steel piles driven up to 4 metres deep to support solar panels, wide trenches for high-voltage cables, and acres of concrete replacing fertile soil. Food production will be lost to these schemes. Heritage experts warn of potential damage to archaeological remains, including potential Roman and prehistoric sites beneath the fields.

The World Health Organization recommends solar farms be at least 2 km (1.2 miles) from residential areas, so protecting wellbeing, yet this development will sit just a short distance from parts of South Acre, with parts of Castle Acre and Swaffham also within this health guideline zone.

For many residents, the long-term impact on quality of life could be significant, due to noise, light pollution, and visual blight. These are not  small local solar projects; they are industrial power stations covering large areas of agricultural land in the heart of our historic countryside. Once built, they will dominate our landscape, damage our heritage, and impact the quality of our lives for generations.

We understand there will be opportunities for you to register with the Planning Inspectorate enabling you to make further representation to the independent Examining Authority once the DCO (Development Consent Order) applications have been submitted to the Secretary of State (SoS) through the (PINS) by the developers.

Castle Acre Parish Council is not opposed to the production of solar energy, we are however opposed to the plans for massive industrial-scale solar farms to be built on agricultural land between Swaffham, Castle Acre and South Acre, threatening to permanently change the landscape, heritage, and tranquillity of our villages for the next 60+ years.

Please continue to inform yourselves, attend meetings, write objections so that we stand together to help protect our landscape, heritage, and communities from these vast developments.

Contact Droves at: info@drovessolarfarm.co.uk

Contact High Grove at: info@highgrovessolar.co.uk